World News - Saddam refuses to enter plea at second trial Ex-Iraqi leader faces death penalty in high-profile ‘Anfal’ war crimes case

A defiant Saddam Hussein shouted at prosecutors and refused to enter a plea Monday at the opening of his second trial, where he faces charges of genocide and war crimes connected to his scorched-earth offensive against Kurds nearly two decades ago. The trial opens a new legal chapter for the ousted Iraqi leader, who once again faces a possible death penalty for the killings of tens of thousands of Kurds during the Iraqi army’s “Operation Anfal” — Arabic for “spoils of war.” The 1987-88 crackdown was aimed at crushing independence-minded Kurdish militias and clearing all Kurds from the northern region along the border with Iran. Saddam accused the Kurds of helping Iran in its war with Iraq. Survivors say many villages were razed and countless young men disappeared. “It’s time for humanity to know ... the magnitude and scale of the crimes committed against the people of Kurdistan,” the lead prosecutor, Munqith al-Faroon, said in his opening statement... http://www.msnbc.msn.com

Residents returned to Baghdad's streets Monday after a two-day lockdown during a Shiite religious commemoration that was disrupted by sniper attacks on pilgrims in another episode of sectarian bloodletting. The Iraqi government said 20 people were killed by the snipers who hid in buildings and sprayed bullets into Shiite religious processions Sunday. The U.S. military, however, said only five people were killed. The discrepancy in the toll could not be immediately reconciled. On Monday, major intersections were clogged with vehicles that had been ordered off the streets since Friday night to prevent car bomb attacks on pilgrims. A virtual curfew had gripped the capital on Saturday and Sunday, and few people were seen except pilgrims. ...http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/02/24/iraq/main541815.shtml?source=RSS&attr=World_541815

New Mexico faced the possibility of more flooding Mon as the monsoon season refused to give up. The National Weather Service issued flash flood watches through late Mon night for northern and central New Mexico. A flash flood warning was issued Mon morning for Arch, Dora, Rogers and Portales in Roosevelt County — meaning flash flooding was imminent in those areas. About 100 volunteers from southern New Mexico, West Texas and elsewhere spent the weekend helping clean up in Hatch, Mayor Judd Nordyke said. The town of 1,600 residents was hit by floodwaters last Tue when a drainage ditch overflowed, sending mud and water into homes and businesses. "The only thing I can do is say thanks in capital letters," Nordyke said. Up to 402 homes in Hatch were affected by the flooding, according to a news release from Gov. Bill Richardson's office. Streets that had been waterlogged or covered in mud were filled this weekend with trucks and heavy equipment clearing debris from businesses and homes...http://www.usatoday.com/weather/2006-08-21-nm-flooding_x.htm?csp=34

"If we die, we are martyrs - if we live, we are victors," say the Taliban in the Panjwai district of Kandahar province. They have taken control of the area in less than two weeks. For, with ever accelerating speed, the Taliban are reconquering south-west Afghanistan from the government, American and Nato forces sent to fight them. It took Besmillah, a villager from Panjwai, three hours to get from his home to Kandahar, a journey that usually takes an hour. "There were bodies on the road," he says, "at least 40 bodies - of Afghan soldiers - lying in a place called Yakh Chah [Ice Well], halfway between Shykh Kalandar and the municipality of Panjwai. The Taliban have a madrasa in Shykh Kalandar and they were attacking the municipality from there at first. But now they have taken the whole district. I saw two cars on fire. I had to go through the fields and take side roads to make it to Kandahar."...http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article1220487.ece

ELITE teams of security officers are to be trained to monitor passenger behaviour at airports in a new attempt to combat terrorism. The “behaviour detection squads” will patrol terminals to monitor the gestures, conversations and facial expressions of passengers. One of their aims will be to spot those who may be concealing fear or anxiety. People deemed to be acting suspiciously will be taken for questioning and prevented from flying if they fail to explain their actions. UK trainers have studied the techniques in America, where behaviour detection squads are already deployed at airports. The plan is part of an overhaul of passenger screening. Instead of solely relying on searches to uncover weapons and bombs, airport authorities are increasingly seeking to pinpoint the terrorists themselves. In the long run, passengers flying from international hubs such as Heathrow and Gatwick could even face a lie-detector test before they board. ...http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,176-2320784,00.html

A Missouri man who police say confessed to killing, dismembering and burning the bodies of seven men in his bedroom fireplace was charged with one count of murder. Michael Lee Shaver Jr., 33, was charged Sunday with first-degree murder and armed criminal action related to a killing in fall 2001. Shaver, who police say spontaneously confessed after he was arrested following a failed carjacking, told investigators that he had shot and killed seven people at his residence during drug transactions so he could take their money and drugs, Cass County Sheriff's Capt. Chuck Stocking said. Shaver claimed that after he killed the men—all between the ages of 20 and 40 and from the Kansas City area—he dismembered the bodies, burned the parts in a fireplace in his bedroom, then used a hammer to crush large bones and skulls, Stocking said. ...http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/08/21/national/main1914120.shtml?source=RSS&attr=U.S._1914120